Afisetti, Borisetti, Ishisam Picture

Afisetti is a trickster-god, in the nature of Coyote, but with a specific influence over weather and the sky. Borisetti is a totem of simplistic strength - and, like Brier Wolf, a constant dupe for Afisetti's tricks. Ishisam the Moon Mouse is Borisetti's sworn enemy, and, when Borisetti nobly swallowed the sun to keep it from burning the earth, Ishisam took the only thing that could extinguish the flame now burning in Borisetti's belly - the moon. Swallowing it, and dawning a cloak to cover it's glow, Ishisam dashed off into the night sky, leaving tiny frosty footprints in his wake. The brightest and coldest of these footprints never melted, and became the stars that we see above us to this day.

Now, Afisetti had been watching this whole time, and, amused by the entire situation, decided to perpetuate it a little further. Borisetti was blinded by the light constantly shining in the back of his eyes, and so, could not find the Moon Mouse himself. Afisetti promised that he would lead Borisetti to the Moon Mouse if Borisetti so wished. Now, the Sky Fox was a renowned trickster, but Borisetti was as trusting as he was brave. So now, the two of them run across the inside of the ring that surrounds the world, Afisetti riding on the back of the Sun Hound, in their pursuit of the Moon Mouse. In the first few days, the three of them tore around the sky, running back and forth and back and forth so fast as to turn day and night around a hundred times in the space of what we could call a day now. Soon, however, their breakneck pace slowed, giving us the days and nights we now know. Meanwhile, Afisetti chuckles silently, laughing at the comedy it witnesses. Sometimes, the Sky Fox laughs so hard that it cries, and it's tears run down it's back and fall to earth as rain.

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Inspired by Native American mythology, and brought to life by a suitably active imagination.